The Hardest Routes of Rio 2011 - Teaser

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While the Pou brothers prepared their next move in Brazil, Iker has climbed the mythical route called “Southern Confort”, also known in the country as “Alemao’s route”.
The images of this route are only the advance of the Pou brothers’ trip to Brazilian ground.

These last months have been very busy for the Pou brothers. From the cold at the Mont Blanc they have gone to the warm atmosphere of Brazil. In the images we show you today, Iker climbs the Southern Confort or “The German’s route”, which for a long time was the most difficult route in South America. It is located at the Piedra de Urubu, one of the most iconic places of Urca, a neighbourhood of Rio de Janeiro.
The German’s Route was opened in 1987 by Wolfgang Gullich, one of the best climbers of the late 80s and early 90s. “It was the ideal route for him: short and explosive. It also quite difficult as it’s by the sea so it’s very humid,” say the Pou brothers. “Wolfgang proposed it as a German X grade, kind of similar to the 8 a+ and 8 b we use. Nowadays, it could well be an 8b, as it has happened with many of his reference routes.”
Iker has become, according to the locals, the first foreigner to climb the same route, after some Brazilian repetitions, like the one Ralf Cortés did in 2003. He started the route from the ground and thus turned it into an 8 b+. A week after climbing the original route, Iker has become the first to climb this extension as well.

But this route was not the reason for the Pou’s trip to Brazil. They spent more days there due to bad weather, so they took the chance to climb some other interesting places… We’ll discover the real reason in some few days!